


A Moment Aside

by paranoidparsnip



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Comfort, Gen, Light Angst, M/M, Simon needs a hug, Suicide mention, aka what happens when simon gets left on the roof but no one actually goes up there to look for him, beta what beta im trash, is it canon divergent? who knows? not me?, let them be happy david cage, look ma it's not only angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-13 17:51:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15370050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paranoidparsnip/pseuds/paranoidparsnip
Summary: Simon and Markus share a moment to themselves.





	A Moment Aside

**Author's Note:**

> hey ho guess who is back from the dead after fucking 3 years of not writing.  
> i'm easing back into it with short stuff or whatever.  
> anyway i've fallen into this disaster of a game head first r.i.p. me huh  
> -update holy crap yall are being entirely too nice to me can't believe anyone actually liked my stuff ;u;-

They sat together for a moment, a brief pause from the duties and distractions that come with leading a revolution. Markus mused for a moment that the humans would find this place nightmarish, ghastly even. What with the perpetual dampness that smelled of rust and oil, the distant groans of the metal warping with stress and age, the darkness that clings like cobwebs to the corners of every room, and of course - them. The troublemakers. Deviants. A whole ship just laden with things that appalled humanity.

But to them, it was home. Well, as close to a home as their kind would get, he thought with a rueful huff.

Beside him, the other android asked curiously, "Is something up?"

Markus shook his head, "No, just thinking. That this place is the perfect storm of unpleasant for humans. Eerie. Dark. Full of androids. But it's more comfortable than any place else these days."

"We could always ask Lucy to start humming a creepier song to add to the ambience." Simon gave a playful smile, "I agree though, it is seeming more and more like a proper sanctuary. Like a home."

There was a comfortable pause as they sat in the near dark, the illumination trickling from the main halls fires only just touched the room. The flickering yellow and red light dancing, casting shadows carelessly. A rare moment of peace.

He had guessed that this was coming when Simon asked to speak with him earlier, in private.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Markus said, his tone soft and sympathetic. Casting his eyes once again at the blonde he noted that Simon avoided his gaze, fixated at some point on the ground.

Another pause, less comfortable.

Simon opened his mouth and closed it again, unable to find the right words.

"You don't have to if it's still too fresh."

"No, I can talk about it. I need to, I think."

"Take your time. I'm not going anywhere."

That seemed to trigger something as Simon's face stiffened, a pained expression left there.

"I just wanted to say that I am grateful that you didn't... shoot me." He stopped, biting his lip for a moment and gathering the right way to phrase this. When he spoke again, there was an undeniable nervous energy to it.

"You know the gun you had given me?"

Markus nodded, making an inquisitive "mmhmm?" sound as to not interrupt his thoughts.

 

_(Stress Level Rising)_

 

"I heard them. I thought for sure they were headed for the roof. I thought for sure they were going to find me. They called the alarm, one clip of bullets wouldn't have lasted too long against them. So I hid. I knew I had to keep them from Jericho's location at all costs so I-"  His pump beat far too quickly, causing him to stop for a moment to think of what he wanted to say next. He knew it wasn't malfunctioning, the anxiety was urging it faster against some perceived invisible threat. "I had it under my chin. I had my finger on the trigger."

Markus had ruled it as a possibility when handing him the gun but banished the thought. He couldn't risk getting distracted or grieved about it when they were escaping as that had the priority. However, since they had returned (without Simon) the thoughts had resumed their pattern and picked at his mind quite cruelly. He had feared the worst until getting reunited.

"I tried, Markus, I really tried. I tried so hard to be brave. But I couldn't help it. I was just scared." His voice threatened to shake at the end. "They were going to be my last moments, my last thoughts, my last imprint of any kind on this world and all I could think was I don't want to die."

When Markus said nothing, he took it as a sign to continue.

"Even when I fled from the humans, when I ran without knowing where I was going or what I was going to do - I was fine. When we raided for supplies and there were guards everywhere - again, fine. When I thought you were going to kill me - I could bear it. But..." Simon's sentence trailed off with a tense inhale that demanded to be known and left as a shuddering sigh. Markus felt a wave of sadness sweep across him at the sound.

 

_(Warning: Stress levels high - use caution)_

 

"I've always expected someone else to take my life. It's just a fact living like we do but having to do it myself just... it's different."

The effort he'd put in trying to keep calm and normal had gotten tiring. He felt as though he drained much of his power getting that off of his chest. But finally he knew, Markus knew. Jericho had thought him a hero, managing to escape certain death and capture from the humans. Having to keep the appearance up that they wanted, that they needed, it weighed on him more and more until he felt he was going to crack. He couldn't hide that he was changed from it.

"That's why you've been avoiding everyone." Markus said, receiving a nod in reply. "Simon. Look at me."

He turned meeting his eyes with a small amount of apprehension.

"I need to you know this and believe this. You were willing to do whatever it took to protect our people and our home. If that meant hiding when others would have fought, if that meant humoring the most dire, you did it."

"All I ever did before you came was hide in the dark and rot. That's not-"

"I'm not talking about then, I'm talking about now. About what happened up there. You were ready to make a choice that you thought would keep us safe. That's everything, Simon."

 

_(Stress level resuming average parameters)_

 

A warm sensation came to rest over his hand. He looked down to see Markus's hand gently resting on his own. Turning over his palm, they laced fingers, the soft glow it emitted replaced the yellow from earlier. It was a calmer light.

"...then what about you? How are you holding up?" Simon muttered, distracted.

The leader of Jericho huffed a laugh of disbelief. "Really? Just going to change the topic like that?"

"You always seems so sure of everything. Even when facing being shut down or killed. Isn't, well, tiring? I don't do half of what you do and it already feels like too much at times."

"Oh, yeah. Extremely tiring. Sometimes I feel like the future of everything rests on me and it's overwhelming. Exhausting. I never know if I'm doing the right thing because it will still cost lives. But what's the alternative? Be tired and uncertain or enslaved. It's an improvement, I'd say."

A true smile reached the blue eyes, softening the edges and finally breaking the expression of pain. Seeing Simon smile lit the same expression on his own, like an ember spreading fire. There was a creak from some far away part of the ship that added it's thought to the subject. It echoed faintly.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Listening."

"Of course, thank you for letting me know what was going on. I've been worried. Josh is too. Even North, to an extent."

"Oh. I must be worse at hiding it than I thought then if she was concerned."

"You mean a lot more to us all than you think." He added with a tone of earnest tenderness, "You mean a lot to me."

Simon just leaned into him. Actions always spoke more to him than words and with another small shift he rested his head on Markus's shoulder. They didn't know where their future would lead them, but for a moment- for one moment of it all, they just sat and marveled at the feeling of being alive.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for taking the time to read it!  
> it's not great or original or anything but it's a start to get my writing muscles back


End file.
